Our purpose is to give God glory. Sin has damaged our glorified condition. God so loved us that He gave His Son to restore that pre-fallen glory. His salvation is more than a trip to heaven. It is His Kingdom come upon this earth. (Read Romans 8:29-30)

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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Knowing Jesus Is a Game Changer

John 15:21-23 (ESV)
21
But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
22
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23
Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

The central event in anyone's life is whether or not Jesus is known. Note that this is "known" rather than "known about" for nearly everyone knows about Jesus but relatively few truly know Him.

This relationship changes what people believe, what they accept and who they will identify with. Thus, you have people who vehemently hate believers when we proclaim Jesus as the only way to heaven. They revile us for making statements of morality which do not match the immoralities of this present age. Some of them have taken to public media to express their vitriolic hatred. They call on more and more people to ridicule us. They seek laws which will keep us from sharing the faith. They want our language to be categorized as "hate speech" as their desire to do so come from their own hatred.

All of this would change if they came to Christ. Believers do not return hatred for the world. They become like Jesus. Jesus died for the world because He loves them. Believers die to themselves to be like Christ. Believers also die for the world to be saved.

Or course, I am not speaking of believers becoming little saviors. Believers cannot seek devotion from others. Believers point to the Cross rather than to themselves. Believers point out who lives in them rather than bringing personal attention to who they are.

Why?

Because people who know the Lord have their whole lives changed. This relationship changes who they are because it changes who and what they love. It changes their morality and purpose in life. It changes their lifestyle.

Those who do not know the Son do not know the Father. This is foreign to those who do not know God. They know about God and believe that faith is merely an external attempt to get people to comply with a moral system. They believe that those who "hear" from God are on the same level as those who believe they are receiving messages from outer space aliens.

Thus, why not live and let live. Anything goes as long as someone doesn't hurt someone else. But people are being hurt in this moral system. The fabric of the society is being torn apart. Abortion has made life worth so much less. The society considers euthanasia as a reasonable to end to life as well. Sexual promiscuity destroys the special relationship of marriages. It makes the home insecure for the parents and the children. Situational and relative morality allows for any atrocity to be committed under certain circumstances. Thus, even the most egregious of sins become accepted.

All this changes when a person becomes a true believer in Christ. (I say true believer because there are many within the church who do not know Christ. They have the right words of salvation but do not possess it.) A true believer seeks to know Him more. A true believer seeks to follow Him.

2 comments:

Very correct - believers need to know Jesus, and know Him more; just knowing ABOUT Him does not make one, a believer or Christian. Equally correct, believers need to follow Jesus; knowing Him but not following Him will not do, also. For not following Him is NOT regarding Him as your Lord. There is no separation between Jesus being your Savior and being your Lord, meaning you cannot just have Him as your Savior, but not your Lord. There are communities of believers who believe we can have Jesus as our Savior only, without having the need to hold Him up as our Lord! This understanding is WRONG. We have to embrace Jesus as our Savior and our Lord.

The issue is how can one and more, get to know Jesus and know Him more. Is it all God's part, and none men's? Or there are things we are to do, while God would do His part? What kind of direction does the Word provides, in this regard? What kind of pointers can we give to those who say, "I come to church-what, like you-what! You are "better", I am not, you ask God-lo!"

I have scanned the internet and noted there have been more writings from proponents of doctrine of separation of Salvation and Lordship (which is WRONG); and I have re-read my own 2-part article on Luke 6:46 - Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and do not do what I say?

That article resulted from my ministry over the internet for a dying woman (a believer seeking truths and understanding)in another country. This sister eventually passed on, from cancer of the lung, but she has sincerely sought the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and lived in obedience (our of love for the Lord, transformed). I am thankful to the Lord, for using me to minister to this sister, for I too, have benefited much from revelations and promptings of the Spirit in that ministry to her.

I would like to leave the link to that article of mine, here, so that your readers could benefit from it. The link is: http://high-expressions.blogspot.sg/2010/09/luke-646-part-i-salvation-and-lordship.html